The Fate of Child Soldiers: A Review of Abe in Arms

As anyone who has bought a Kindle or iPad knows, things are changing in the publishing industry. Twenty-five years ago, when I started a small press to publish young adult fiction on cutting-edge social issues, I had to print large quantities of books and find a place to store them until I could sell them. Today, print-on-demand technology has eliminated the need for small and self-publishers to stack boxes of books in their basement or garage, because books can be printed quickly and relatively inexpensively to fulfill orders as they come in. Electronic books require no printing time or storage at all.

This is encouraging news for a new generation of small press publishers who seek to provide alternatives to Big Media. Several months ago, I received a thick catalog from one of those new publishers, PM Press. Founded in Oakland, California, in 2007, PM Press and its associated imprints and co-publishers now have more than 100 titles in print, including fiction; poetry; books on music, art, film, history, and current events; and children’s books.

I was particularly interested in PM Press’s first young adult novel, Abe in Arms by Pegi Deitz Shea, published under PM’s children’s imprint, Reach and Teach. Shea has written a number of award-winning picture books and titles for older elementary age readers that present the stories of immigrants, refugees, and historical figures who changed the world. Among her distinguished books are the biography Noah Webster: Weaver of Words, the stories of Southeast Asian refugees The Whispering Cloth and Tangled Threads, and the fictionalized account of the life of Pakistani anti-child labor activist Iqbal Masih, The Carpet Boy’s Gift.

Released this month, Abe in Arms is the story of 17-year-old Abraham Elders (born Abraham Odo), adopted from a refugee camp in Liberia at the age of 13 by a well-to-do African-American family living in Maryland. In his senior year of high school Abe seems to have the perfect life—a loving family, a brother to whom he is close, an adoring girlfriend, good grades, and the possibility of a Division I track scholarship. But as the book opens in the backseat of his girlfriend’s car, Abe suffers a flashback to his old life in Liberia, where he witnessed unspeakable horrors during the country’s long civil war.

Abe and his adoptive father, Dr. George Elders, thought that a year of counseling after his rescue and adoption were enough to quell the traumatic memories, but as Abe’s flashbacks become ever more frightening and violent, those who love him don’t have the answers to help him. A new round of therapy opens the floodgates, as Abe recounts the life of his best friend in Liberia, Steven, and the heartless “James,” whose worship of the rebel commander Grant leads him to undergo and then commit horrible atrocities as a child soldier.

Abe in Arms is a gripping tale that takes its place in the sad but necessary literature of Africa’s child soldiers, joining such classics as Ishmael Beah’s memoir of fighting in Sierra Leone’s civil war, A Long Way Gone; What Is the What, Dave Eggers’s fictionalized story of Sudanese child soldier Valentino Achak Deng; and the late Ahmadou Kourouma’s Allah Is Not Obliged, set in the Ivory Coast. Shea’s novel will have special appeal to teen readers because of Abe’s daily concerns in the U.S.—his adopted brother Niko’s habit of drinking and driving, his ambivalence about having sex with his girlfriend, not-so-friendly competition with his track teammates. Teen and adult readers will be drawn in by the question of how a young man, whose childhood has been stolen from him by war, struggles to live a normal life.

The situation in Liberia is particularly relevant for readers in the United States because in the first half of the nineteenth century, many abolitionists saw the U.S. colony as a potential home for enslaved African Americans; however, those who returned through the efforts of the American Colonization Society disrupted the lives and livelihoods of the indigenous people, sowing the seeds of later ethnic conflict. In the past two decades, many refugees from Liberia have found refuge in the United States, with sizeable populations in and around New York City, Washington, D.C., Boston, Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles. Liberia’s rebel leader and former head of state Charles Taylor is currently on trial in The Hague for crimes against humanity committed in neighboring Sierra Leone. With the trial currently taking place (for more information, visit The Trial of Charles Taylor: A Project of the Open Society Justice Institute), Abe in Arms offers a powerful depiction of the conflict’s impact on the people of the region and its repercussions years later.

Disclosure statement: Reviewed from the finished book, received by the author.

Lyn Miller-Lachmann

14 Responses

Lyn, This is an important subject, both for an understanding of refugees who may wind up as our neighbors, and for the future of the countries where the the young soldiers trained and fought. I know that Nepal, for one, is trying to institute a program of intentional reintegration of former child soldiers into the society to try to avoid future problems. I imagine other countries might be too but am not sure of this. Does anyone else know?

Publishing on demand has been a great innovation in the publishing industry, both to conserve resources and to give small publishers an opportunity to publish books with less apparent potential success (there have been a number of surprises coming out of small presses over the years). Although I like the idea of electronic books reducing the need for paper copies of books, I feel some hesitation about the technology. If many books eventually are available only via an electronic reader, how will the poor access these books? Too many people are being left behind by technological advances which are only available to those who can afford them. I’m also concerned about having yet another gadget to become obsolete every couple of years and wind up in a landfill beside all the old computers and cell phones. I need to look at this whole area more to learn about it. Does anyone know whether a cost benefit analysis has been done to compare paper printing on demand with the energy used to run an electronic reader?

#1, Anita, I do see that a brand new branch of the Albany Public Library system is opening this week in the Arbor Hill neighborhood so that people of low income have ready access to books, children’s activities related to books, and other library services.

Although good libraries these days do offer access to electronic media of various kinds, books and magazines are still a major feature. I think we are okay for right now, but we do need to look at the future both in terms of access and in terms of experience. At some point I believe it is beneficial for children (and even adults) to have the direct experience of holding a page of print in their hands. The tactile experience, the opportunity to take the books places that might be unsuituable for an electronic gadget, the opportunity to move one’s eyes from print to illustrations without some of the strain looking at a screen implies….well, these are considerations I have.

As to re-entry to society of child soldiers, there are countries in East Africa, along with a variety of international agencies, who are engaged in this work. I have forgotten precisely, but I suspect Sierra Leone is one of them.

I have also forgtotten the book title, but I read the true story of one “recovering” child soldier from a country involved. He described how he was conscripted, the horrors experienced, and the mixed results of the young people in the re-integration program.

On the whole, it seemed like there are very knowledgable people working at the process. People who recognize the issues, the different stages a person needs to pass through, and have great sensitivity in working with indiviuduals.

The information and effective results can be drawn upon to increase the availability of such programs, and it is my impression that the programs need wider public exposure and support, perhaps more funding, and assistance in providing for additional resources when the person is ready to move on from such a “therapeutic” program to additional vocational training and/or employment.

Lyn, as always you’ve chosen a very important aspect of the effects of war and violence on the world that we live in. I was at the Public Library yesterday evening and looked for “Abe In Arms” but it’s too early for it to be in the UHLS at the moment. So I’ll need to wait to read the book itself.

Your description did raise some interesting questions about the effects of war experiences on child refugees and their adoptive lands, as Anita has already pointed out. I’d like to raise another question about adolescent soldiers and the effect that war has on their lives, futures, families and communities.

I’ve never seen a study connecting these two subjects but I have seen studies that say that the human brain and neurological system isn’t fully mature in late adolescence. I also know that our volunteer army that’s fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan is relatively young— containing many teen-aged soldiers. So I wonder if the violence that they see, experience, inflict and respond to affects them more strongly than it does older, more experienced military members.

In addition to lacking much life experience of relationships, jobs, and other long term involvement with people outside their families and school environments These 17, 18 and 19 year old soldiers have a long future ahead of them. Will we all be dealing with unique problems that these not child but not fully adult soldiers bring home with them?

Thank you for all the thoughtful comments, Anita, Linda, and Mickie. Mickie, the point you made about teenagers’ developing brains and the impact of military service on young soldiers is an interesting one that was also discussed in the context of Vietnam War veterans. I read a while ago (a long while ago, so I don’t have the source), that the average age of those who fought in Vietnam was significantly younger than those who fought in World War II. I don’t know whether Korea was mentioned, but the relative youth of the Vietnam War veterans was cited as a reason for their higher rates of PTSD.

I’m not sure the argument holds up, however, because a counter-argument can be made that PTSD was first identified and officially diagnosed (meaning in the DSM) after the end of the Vietnam War.

I’ll have to check this out, but I think that the average age of volunteer soldiers in the current wars is somewhat higher than that of the draftees in Vietnam. What is different is the higher rate of traumatic brain injuries today, accounting for the long struggles of many of our soldiers.

I decided to do more reading about the resettlement of child soldiers, to learn about what is going on in the world. There is a ton of information available. The UN, some NGO’s, and local governments are involved in the effort. Nepal’s program seems to be the most focused at this point. I have included some links below to articles discussing this vital work in specific countries. There are more, but it is hard to read too much of this at once and see the long list of areas of the world living the brutal legacy of colonialism by suffering long wars.

The article about the Sudan mentions a former girl soldier. I have read more in the past about the boy soldiers, but there are many girls coerced into fighting, too.

Lyn, Your review raises important issues. Whenever and wherever a decision is made to fight a war, traumatized soldiers and civilians are left in its wake, with decades of psychological and physical scars. Hopefully, if young people read such books, they will be less willing to go to war or to send others to war.

Just in case we think that the issue of child soldiers is far away on another continent (if we don’t count adolescent soldiers) here’s a direct connection to US financial aid and to US failure to ratify the Convention of the Rights of the Child:US Taxpayers May Be Funding Child Soldiers in Somalia
The New York Times is reporting the Somali government may be using US tax dollars to pay hundreds of child soldiers, some as young as nine years old. According to the United Nations, the Somali government is among the “most persistent violators” of sending children into war. The United States and Somalia are the world’s only two countries not to have ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which prohibits the use of soldiers younger than fifteen.

What is the Convention on the Rights of the Child?
The Convention on the Rights of the Child is an international treaty that recognizes the human rights of children, defined as persons up to the age of 18 years. The Convention establishes in international law that States Parties must ensure that all children—without discrimination in any form—benefit from special protection measures and assistance; have access to services such as education and health care; can develop their personalities, abilities and talents to the fullest potential; grow up in an environment of happiness, love and understanding; and are informed about and participate in, achieving their rights in an accessible and active manner…How many countries have ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child?
More countries have ratified the Convention than any other human rights treaty in history—192 countries had become State Parties to the Convention as of November 2005.

Who has not ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child and why?
The Convention on the Rights of the Child is the most widely and rapidly ratified human rights treaty in history. Only two countries, Somalia and the United States, have not ratified this celebrated agreement. Somalia is currently unable to proceed to ratification as it has no recognized government. By signing the Convention, the United States has signalled its intention to ratify—but has yet to do so.

As in many other nations, the United States undertakes an extensive examination and scrutiny of treaties before proceeding to ratify. This examination, which includes an evaluation of the degree of compliance with existing law and practice in the country at state and federal levels, can take several years—or even longer if the treaty is portrayed as being controversial or if the process is politicized. Moreover, the US Government typically will consider only one human rights treaty at a time. Currently, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women is cited as the nation’s top priority among human rights treaties.

I wish I could remember the source and date of a quote I read recently. I remember it was made by a high ranking, respected American military figure. I think the date went back several decades.

The gist was that all wars are truly horrible. No matter how a war appears to have been “just”…the American Civil War, World War II, and so on and so forth, the damage to both sides is horrendous. Of course, civilian lives are lost or disrupted almost beyond repair. Very frequently the wrong people are placed in positions of command and responsbility. Wrong people are given guns and end up misusing them. Honest and responsible people are put in positions of committing atrocities not of their own choosing. Some people are emotinally scarred even by killing “appropriate” targets with little or no “collateral” damage.

Many lives are lost and much money is spent that could have been put to better use in too many cases.

The experienced military person thus concluded: before entering into any war, responsible people need to decide if the benefits of that engagement are far and away greater than the damage that is sure to occur. Needless to say, there is also the implication that every other imaginable solution to the presenting problem needs to have been explored and tried before resorting to military engagement.

A second United States senator complained Thursday about American military assistance to Somalia’s government, which the United Nations considers one of the most flagrant users of child soldiers in the world. Senator Russ Feingold, Democrat of Wisconsin, said in a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton that the American government should press the Somali military to halt any use of child soldiers and “until we have that confirmation, I believe it is inappropriate to continue providing the T.F.G. with security assistance.” American officials said they have urged the Somali military not to recruit children but that with few American personnel in Somalia, it is impossible to guarantee this does not happen.

One of the other most flagrant users of child soldiers is the government of Myanmar (Burma). The author Mitali Perkins, whose forthcoming novel Bamboo People is on my to-be-reviewed list, has created an impressive site for teachers and others unfamiliar with the situation but interested in getting involved: http://www.bamboopeople.org/

Thanks for the link to Mitali Perkins’ website. Had a chance to visit it and was impressed with the information about the long reign of the military government in Burma and the situation of the the oppressed minorities (and in some cases majorities). There’s a lot more to learn and I intend to keep reading and catching up on my history and even my geography!

I’m going to see Mitali Perkins at the American Library Association conference next weekend, and I’ll try to interview her for a future Waging Peace–maybe even for the end of the month if she has the time.

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